


Eight Days

by bon_voyage (digiornosbizarrepizza)



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, M/M, Mystery, mlm, wlw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26720722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digiornosbizarrepizza/pseuds/bon_voyage
Summary: Red didn't know what was in it for him when he stepped into the Dropship and made sure every Crewmate was ready for launch.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 32





	1. Fantastic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy, there might be some errors/formatting mistakes as I'm posting this from my phone, but I hope you enjoy!

The first day had _started_ out great.

It had _started_ out fantastic, actually. Red checked the straps on the harnesses every Crewmate had, nodding and making small talk with them as he tested their equipment.

When he went to White for his own suit to be fitted, the man started. “Who’s your partner this time?” 

“Blue,”

“Ooh. Cyan’s best friend. This is like, what, his first time going up? At least first time with you on board, think.”

“Does that even matter?”

“He’s buddy-buddy with everyone. Don’t take it the wrong way, babe,” White said with a jab to Red’s cheek.

“What the hell does that mean? This is why I don’t talk to you, White...”

“You know you love me, don’t lie.”

“Something like that,” Red said, rolling his eyes and putting his helmet on. “Hey, wait a second- you didn’t even tell me who your partner is!”

“Purple.”

Red snorted. “Good luck. You two are probably gonna just walk on your own again...”

“Yeah, and?”

“...Whatever.” He rolled his eyes a second time and pressed the button that confirmed everyone was ready for launch.

They got into the Dropship and were launched into space. The clock that only showed how much time they had left on the ship showed **8 days.** Not as long as some of the previous missions, but this was definitely a difference from the 3-day mission they had two weeks ago.

Blue nudged Red with a grin, and it took Red a moment to remember that they were paired together for this mission. “Where do you have to go first?” _White was right,_ Red thought. _he_ does _act this way to everyone. It’s normal._

“I have to make sure every Crewmate knows where they’re going to go first. Hold on,”

“Oh, alright!” He sat at the table and waited for Red to talk to each Crewmate individually. When Red got to White, they exchanged information and Red stuck his tongue out at White as the other laughed. They shook hands and Red pulled away first with a grimace.

Blue watched as Red walked back. “Everyone’s ready now. You got the card swipe first, yeah?”

“Mmhm! Let’s go swipe our cards!” He said with a beaming smile.

Red hesitated a little. “...Okay.” He took out his bent, yellowed card that was a hand-me-down from his parents, and walked towards the Admin room with Blue. His hand was still stinging, yet he didn’t pay attention to it. _I’ll have to get that checked later._

They went into the room to see White, Pink, and Orange, all giggling and laughing. “Hey, Red!” White said with a small wave, the others with him following.

“Yo,” He replied as he followed Blue. “Your hand good, by the way?

“Yeah, can’t believe there was glass there.”

Blue paused before swiping his card to listen to the small talk going on in the room, making the card read the wrong way. **Too slow.**

“Oops, sorry for holding you up...” Blue muttered as he swiped it slowly again.

“Here, let me do it for you.” Red hovered behind Blue, lightly taking the card out of Blue’s hands and swiping it perfectly.

“Thank you so much!”

“No problem,” Red replied with a nod. “Sorry, White, but I gotta do my stuff. I’ll be back soon...” He yawned and looked at Blue. “Let’s go?”

“Alright!” Blue put on the same grin he had before as they started towards Navigation.

Red breathed in. He looked at his hand to see a small, dark hole in the suit, but didn’t think much of it. _I’ll have to get that checked later._ He thought a second time. “What was your first task again, Blue?”

“Uhh, it’s cleaning the filter in O2.”

“Oh, we can do that first, then. I need to sit down for a bit anyways, I think.”

“Okay!”

Wow. Why did his head hurt a lot more? Sudden fear clouded his vision and he gripped onto the Oxygen container roughly as he tried to steady himself. He started to cough, and his vision warped. Was that... Blood? Red saw stains of blood all over the floor and the Oxygen container. He stumbled back, putting his hands over his eyes, but everything looked like it was going to make him throw up. Why could he see the bones in his hands through the suit?

A blaring alarm sound coursed throughout the ship as all of the Crewmates rushed towards the Oxygen container. Blue was already struggling to fix it back into place, panicking while punching in the number code. Red shivered.

“What’s happening to Red?” He faintly heard as he looked up at all of the Crewmates. None of them stood out, they all looked the same.

Except for White. _White._ He was panting, maybe from running all the way to O2, but otherwise looked- through his hypercoloured vision Red could see blood splattered all over White’s Crewmate uniform.

“Here, I’ll take him to the Medbay.” White offered.

“Are you sure?” Pink said. She looked like she was nervous at the thought of them going alone. “I could-”

“Yeah, it’ll be fine.” He interrupted Pink, grabbing Red’s arm and pulling it over his shoulder. Brown walked with the two, carefully observing White’s actions.

“White, you were with Red in Admin, correct? With Pink and Orange and Blue?” Brown asked as they opened the doors to the Medbay. White let them guide Red onto a bed. He was sweating and his eyes widened. 

“Yeah,” He responded, eyes unreadable. “Why?”

“Well, if you look at this,” Brown raised Red’s hand up for White to see. “There’s a hole in it... Some blood too. When you saw him, did you notice anything like this?”

“No...” White brought his own hand to his head and rubbed the glass as if he could feel his head through it.

“You’re lying. I know that’s your tell. What hap-”

“Don’t worry about it, Doc.” Red froze, a silent scream coming out of his mouth as White brought a metal plate behind Brown’s head. They raised their arm up in defense, getting smacked to the floor.

Brown tried to sit up, backing towards a wall. Their whole body shook. “W-White... Stop!” He hit them again, and they crumpled.

Red stared blankly at White. “You just...” He tried to process what he had seen, eyes panickedly flicking from White’s bloody uniform to Brown’s unmoving body.

“Red, we gotta work together for this. I don’t know why, but I think we’re supposed to...” His eyes were wild and a long black tongue licked over his lips. “ **Kill them all.** ” 

“I-I can’t... I’m gonna b-be sick...”

“Don’t you get it? It’s what we were _made_ to do.” White pressed his face up against the glass of Red’s helmet, and Red could see how insane he had gotten. _Is that... Is that how I look?!_ “We were made to kill everyone here... They’re our enemies!”

“I... I-”

“I’ll hide the body. Red, remember... We’re on our _own_ mission here. They _must_ die.” With another lick of his lips, White dragged Brown’s limp body into the vent.

The door closed after White disappeared and Red fought the urge to scream. He jumped off of the medical bed, legs almost giving way a second time. He stood up, leaned against the wall, and pushed against it as he made his way to the now-closed Medbay door.

Blood was everywhere. His vision was no longer distorted, but he could see dried blood and it still felt like he was on his deathbed. “What’s going on, what’s going on...” He mumbled as he gripped the wall even harder, gagging.

He heard banging on the door and when it opened, he saw Blue, Orange, and Cyan looking distressed. “Red, you have to come here...”

And as he was led to the Upper Engine, still woozy, he caught a glimpse of Brown’s mangled body being pulled from a vent. Red gulped, glancing at White.

White smiled nonchalantly before looking away from Red. Nothing was wrong.

“W... What happened?!” Pink shouted, running towards the body. When she saw Brown, she choked. Pink fell to the floor, grabbing at her neck through her thick suit.

She screeched after a minute. “Brown’s dead!” This captured the attention of every other crewmate as they sprinted towards her scream. Tears coated the glass of her helmet.

Everyone shared worried glances. Black walked towards Brown’s corpse with a dark bag, face hard. Red was trying his best not to cry himself after seeing the cut and bloody arms of his dead friend.

Black cleared his throat, standing up with the bag that held Brown’s body. “Who found it?”

“I... I did-” White coughed. His face had dried tears on it. Red gritted his teeth, knowing that this was all for show. _You don’t mean a single word you say._ “Brown said they were g-going to get some supplies from Storage... A-And they were taking a while... And the n-next thing I know, I see their b-body...”

Black tilted his head to look at White. The two locked eyes for a long time before Black turned away. “I can’t believe this...”

“ **Brown was murdered.** ” 


	2. Security

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not knowing how to deal with the death of Brown, the Crewmates try to go back to focusing on their tasks. White has other ideas for the way things will go, however...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be honest- I had like nothing written but as I went on this chapter just pieced itself together. I was expecting to share it on like October 4th, but, you know, this is fine. Hope you enjoy!

Pink grasped Red’s hand forcefully, and he didn’t pull away. She and Green had to have been the most stricken by this, being Brown’s closest friends... But who could have expected it? The crew had worked together so well for so many months... They were practically family!

And White just killed them, without a second thought! Tears streamed down Red’s face before he could pull himself together. His grip on Pink’s hand tightened as he tried to steady himself, biting his lip.

Green slammed his fist against the wall. “Why?!” He shouted, continuing to punch nothing. “Why... Why...” He slid down to face the others, leaning against the wall in defeat. His face was pale, and his hands were shaking.

Black stood up a little taller and coughed, trying to regain the attention of the Crewmates.

“Let’s... Let’s go to the Cafeteria...”

Everyone begrudgingly walked towards the Cafeteria. Red and Pink walked side by side in silence at the back, still holding onto each others’ hands tightly.

Black pushed the bag onto the table. “We... We need to figure this out...”

He pointed at Purple stiffly, trying to hide the shakiness in his hand.. “Where were you, P-Purple?”

“After I left Admin... After fixing the Oxygen there... I went to Weapons...”

“I saw her there,” Cyan said hesitantly, as if she didn’t want to speak. “It couldn’t have been Red... The doors were shut to Med Bay, right..?” Her voice cracked and with a cough, she looked at Orange for confirmation.

“Y-Yeah... The doors were shut...” Orange nodded reluctantly. “Wait... Wasn’t Blue w-with us too?..”

“I was there...” Blue mumbled, whatever that counted for.

“That rules out Purple... And Cyan, Blue, Red and Orange...” Black muttered, putting his hand on the table. His brow was furrowed as he tried to count. “White... You found them, so... I don’t think you would have done this... Green and Pink..?”

Neither of them spoke. They couldn’t bring themselves to speak. Red felt like his hand would be torn off if Pink continued to hold onto it like she was.

“Black...” White said.

“Well? What is it, White?” He asked, irritation coming through his voice.

“Black, you can’t ask them those things. They’re barely keeping themselves together as it is...” White insisted softly.

Black didn’t say anything for a long time. The silence seemed to be swallowing the Crewmates whole, shoulders sagging with the weight of their friends’ death.

He sighed in defeat. “I... I give up... Just go back to doing... What you were doing...”

* * *

They glanced between each other, uncertain. No longer were they in the pairs they were assigned to, slowly beginning to get up and move as a group.

“Pink,” Red said quietly.

When she didn’t respond, he repeated her name. “Pink.”

“PINK!” He shouted in distress, finally grabbing her attention.

She turned away, standing shortly after. “S-Sorry...” Pink fumbled with the word, voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s fine... I’m sorry for screaming at you.” He was no longer shouting, trying to maintain a quieter tone as he talked with her. “We have to stay with the group, though...”

Pink didn’t respond with anything but a nod, walking with Purple and linking arms with her.

Red stood at the back with White, not bothering to make any move to speak. He didn’t want to, still trying to grapple with the fact that White was a killer.

Cyan and Blue whispered to each other, and Red strained to listen to them. It was still near-impossible to pick up what they were saying.

“...Wires...Fuel...Storage...Black...”

The two split up and White overtook Cyan, connecting the Storage wires with ease. Muscle memory, just like the rest of them. Red walked towards Blue with a soft smile.

“Hey,” Red said quietly.

“Hi!” Blue replied, closely watching the bottle of gasoline as he filled it up to the top. He shut the lid and they continued to make small talk. Both seemed at ease with each other, and Red breathed a sigh of relief. 

Blue looked over his shoulder to see Cyan backing away from White. “You good, Cyan?” He called over to her. She locked eyes with him and Red could see that she was fighting to stay calm.

“Yeah,” She responded loudly. “White just came into my view really fast. I didn’t see him at first.”

White turned. “Oh, sorry about that,” He said. “I should’ve thought about it more before just cutting you off like that.”

“It’s fine!” She hurriedly said, passing Red and Blue as she rushed into Electrical. Red tilted his head unnoticeably towards White, who grinned. He shook the look out of his head. _White’s gonna kill her..._ Red thought nervously.

Blue got up and motioned to the bottle of gas. “Wanna come with me to fuel this?” He asked Red.

“Oh, sure!” Red exclaimed, walking in line with Blue.

“Do you have any tasks in this area?” Blue inquired as they got to the Upper Engine. Red thought for a moment, pulling out his list of tasks, then nodded.

“Mmhm. I have to start the Reactor.”

“We can do that after I fuel this Engine!” He replied as he unscrewed the lid to the bottle. He brought it up to the mouth of the Engine, slowly pouring the gasoline in.

“Actually, I’m gonna watch Security. After you finish fueling the Engines I’ll do it with you!” Red tried to find another way so he could check Electrical.

“Oh, okay! Yeah, that sounds good!” Blue said with a smile as Red left him and started towards Security.

Red punched the door lock nervously, trying to steady his breathing. He stared at the vent, dried blood smeared all over the vent covering.

Shaking his head, Red put a coin on the key of the monitor that showed the Cameras. This would make it look like he was watching the cameras if anyone asked... But the door was locked... He sighed, opening up the vent cover.

 _Here goes nothing..._ He thought as he plunged into the vent. His breathing sped up again as he crawled through, focusing on the metal right in front of him as he tried to figure out where he was. Red bumped his head against the top of the tunnel, but then it opened up- there was another vent, right inside the door to Electrical. He opened it slowly and, with a pant, he came out of the vent. 

White gave Red the same grin he had before. He had been hanging out around the entrance to Electrical- had he been expecting Red to do this?

“What are you two doing?” White said as he walked into Electrical with Red.

“J... Just some w-wires...” Green replied nervously.

“Yeah, me too..?” Cyan followed with a shake in her voice. 

“Oh, that’s fine... I have to download data.” He chuckled and nodded towards Red, who regretfully pressed the door lock and shut the doors behind Green and Cyan. He could already feel the tears streaming down his face as he grabbed Green by the arms, slamming him into the wall of Electrical.

“Red?!” Cyan gasped as White clicked his helmet’s glass open and opened his mouth. No words came out, but his tongue did. Sharp as a razor, it easily broke through Cyan’s suit and went straight through her heart. Blood quickly filled the space and White rushed to pull Cyan’s still-kicking body away from the wiring.

Red took off Green’s helmet, muscles going into overdrive as he brought the other into a chokehold. Green wheezed as he fought to get Red off of him, and Red started to panic. He was taking too long to do this. Kicking Green into the wall, he brought a knife from behind and, without looking, plunged it into his back through his suit.

Cyan was hardly breathing, but Red could hear her laughing. “I knew you were gonna kill me...” She choked on her own blood and closed her eyes. This made Red more anxious, and he sobbed as he heard Green’s own breathing stop.

He took the knife out without a word, barely able to see. White clicked a button on the side of Red’s helmet and opened the glass up, rubbing the tears away from the glass.

“Hey, nice job there. You don’t need to cry, that was perfect.” White said, licking his lips.

“Y-You’re crazy...” Red mumbled with a sob, not meeting White's insane eyes.

“You helped me kill both of them, babe,” White said with fake sweetness as he walked towards the vent cover that Red had come out of. “Well, come along now, we can’t be caught next to bodies...”

Red hesitated and went into the vent first, looking straight ahead. He tried not to listen to White’s calm breathing, as if they hadn’t just killed two people.

When White started speaking, however, he had to listen. “I’m going to Med Bay. Don’t come with me.”

Red fought to find the right words to respond with, lips trembling.. After a while, he just shook his head. “O-Okay...”

Popping his head out of the vent in Security, Red put away the urge to scream, or throw up, or both. He closed the vent and opened the door, staring at the camera in Security.

White walked out of Med Bay, passing Pink. She didn’t meet his eyes, but she acknowleged him with an almost unnoticeable nod.

Blue walked out of Upper Engine and sighed in relief when he saw Red in the doorway to Security. “W-When the door closed, I thought something bad was g-gonna happen...”

Red gave him a weak smile. “Yeah, me too... I’m fine, though!”

“Let’s go to Reactor like you said, then, okay?”

“Alright!” Red replied, leading the way across the hall into Reactor. He walked towards the huge machine in the middle, fingers gliding across the screen as he punched in the code.

With a lot of bright green light, the reactor started up and he could hear the humming sound that mant it was on.

“Okay, where do you have to go next?” Blue asked.

Red hesitated. Should he..?

“...Electrical.”

“I think I have something there as well, so... Let’s!”

Red walked into Electrical stiffly. He was trying too hard to hide the shakiness in his hands and legs as Blue followed him. They turned the corner, and...

And...

Red’s knees buckled. The adrenaline wore off, and he could see Green’s body clearly. The body of whom he had killed.

Blue sobbed, backing away into the wall. He started screaming to Cyan, Cyan, his best friend. Cyan, who had been friends with Blue since forever.

Red’s voice cracked as he shouted. “ **ELECTRICAL... COME TO ELECTRICAL!..** ”


	3. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With tension running high between every member of the Crew, it seems to be a race to complete tasks before being killed- and Red has to prevent one of those deaths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all I am so exhausted at the time of posting this (4:37 AM CEST)- I was up all night writing. This is so much fun to write but I think I'm gonna have to take more time to finish pieces as I still have work I need to do, haha.  
> Sorry for any inconveniences and I hope you enjoy!

Everyone rushed towards their cries. Purple came crashing in with Orange hot on her tail, the two seemingly having been in an argument. Pink was one of the last to walk in, followed by White. The anger dissipated from Orange and Purple’s faces as they rounded the corner.

Black ran into the room alone shortly after, panting and confused. His demeanor crumbled even more when he saw the scene.

Pink stared at Green’s body. No emotion showed in her face. It was terrifyingly pale, and her hands shook uncontrollably.

“I’ll... I’ll get...” Black choked on the words as he backed away, not able to finish his sentence.

And when he came back with the bags for their bodies, the Crewmates were fighting amongst themselves, throwing accusations.

Orange knocked Purple into the wall, seething. “It’s _not_ me, stop fucking accusing me!” She hissed.

Purple pushed her back angrily. “Why don’t you do the same? I was in Communications, you stupid BITCH!”

“Both of you! Cut it _OUT!”_ Red yelled. Everyone turned towards him in shock. Pink turned away from Green’s body to look at him, still pale but at least responsive.

He pointed at Pink. “Ask anyone, _anyone,_ one question.”

Pink took a few seconds to register what he had asked her. Then she nodded slowly. Without meeting his eyes, she asked White, “W-What were you doing in... In Med Bay?”

“I turned the scanner on... For my Scan... It takes some time to boot itself up..?”

“...I guess that... Makes sense...” She said sluggishly in response. Black stared at Red curiously, and opened his mouth to ask a question. Red’s eyes glared daggers at him, willing him not to speak. With a dip of his head, he seemed to understand and comply, at least for now.

“Orange..?” Red was trying to keep his voice steady. “You can ask a question... Now...”

“Oh, it's my turn now? Yeah, Purple, you know exactly what the fuck I'm gonna ask, so you mind as well prepare one of your lies now!” She said accusingly.

“Please, hit me with your best shot. You're the one that's making up lies about where _I_ was, and for what?” Purple retorted.

“Well? Where were you, Miss Weapons?”

“I already _said_ I was in COMMUNICATIONS! Not Weapons! Remember after we fixed the Bottom Oxygen?! That’s when I went to Weapons!”

“That’s _so_ bullshit, you said you were in Weapons!”

“ **Did you not hear what I** ** _just_** **said?!** ”

“Yeah, in one ear and out the other! You’re probably the person that killed everyone!”

“Ooh, would _love_ to hear your reasoning behind that one.”

“Can you both stop?” Black interrupted Orange before she could fire back. He had finished putting the bodies into their respective bags and stood up. Exhaustion filled his face.

They glared at him but stayed quiet. Red watched out of the corner of his eye as Blue scooted towards him. He said nothing as the other leaned his head on Red’s shoulder.

He had to quickly decide if he was going to give Orange a chance- she would probably just accuse Purple anyway- and sighed. “Black? You can... Interrogate.” Red said. He nodded and turned his head towards Pink.

“Can you describe where you were? From after the group split up until now...” Black asked Pink, a soft tone to his voice.

“Cafeteria... to Storage... then Upper... Upper E-Engine...”

“White, is this true?..” He slowly said, and it sounded like he didn’t want to ask White.

“Yeah. I saw her as I walked out from Med Bay..?”

“Okay... That’s all I wanted... To ask...”

Red stared at Orange. The woman returned a challenging glare. “Well, Orange, since you seem _so_ ready... Do you want to ask anyone anything?”

“Yeah,” She began to walk past Red and pointed at the vent. “This is open. Why.”

“It’s normally closed...” Black muttered. “Wait- Brown was found... In a vent...”

She sighed, irritated. “Yeah. Clearly someone’s been using these.” She scowled at Purple accusingly but didn’t say anything more.

“Do we... Do we have any leads... Or other things to ask..?”

“...None.” White replied to the question, and Black raised an eyebrow at him.

“Are you sure _you_ don’t have anything to say, White? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“No. I’m fine.” He said firmly.

“...Then I guess this is over,” Black looked around at the Crewmates. “We’ll... We’ll figure this out. Just keep on doing your Tasks...” His voice trailed off.

The Crew walked out of Electrical, feet dragging against the panels of the floor, and split up. Pink walked with Purple towards the Engines, silent. After they left Red’s vision, the only sound he could hear was their almost synchronous footsteps.

He turned to the rest of the Crew, which was wandering away from the room. White smirked confidently as he took a stride behind Blue.

Red’s eyes widened. He knew that look, that grin of which meant White was going to kill someone. And now his target was Blue. Passing them, he was walking with urgency as he made his way to Communications.

He glanced over his shoulder at the two, who seemed to be going to Admin, and hoped he had enough time to execute the small plan forming in his head.

Red looked around in the hallway to Communications. No one seemed to be there. As swiftly as he could manage, Red sprinted into the room and turned the knob he believed was for the Cameras. Static played and he didn’t bother to check if he had done the job correctly as he ran to Admin.

He saw Blue, facing the wall, in Admin. Near the screen in the wall where the Data Upload was. Red tried to slow his steps, but as winded as he was from running, the stomp of his feet against the floor was imminent.

White brought up the knife at Blue’s back. The same grin reappeared on his face. 

It quickly turned into a frown as the footsteps got louder. Before he could turn around to see what the commotion was, Red tackled White, knocking him to the ground.

Blue, hearing the crash, turned around and jumped back. “W-What?!”

“Sorry,” Red huffed, tucking the knife behind White’s back with a glare. “This idiot thought it would be funny to mess up the Cameras, so I was looking for him.”

“Oh,” Blue laughed. There was a nervous tone to his shaking voice as he stared at White. “Why didn’t you s-say that? I’m g-great at fixing those.”

Red got up and offered his hand to White, who slapped it away and stood. The tension between the two was rising.

But Red couldn’t bear it if Blue got hurt. He’d been avoiding Blue as well as trying to keep White away from him at the same time. Much to Red’s fear, when the opportunity had presented itself for him to lash out, White had taken it.

“Okay, then let’s go there.” White said quietly. There was a hard-to-hear challenge in his words as he stared at Red, face unreadable.

As they walked towards Communications, they saw Purple already struggling to fix the Cameras. Blue tapped on her shoulder, and she whipped her head around in a mix of surprise and fear.

“Oh, it’s just you two,” She said with a sigh of relief. Then she saw White towering behind Red and Blue, and the face came back. “I take that back.” Purple moved out of the way quicker than Red would have thought possible.

The silence as Blue turned the knob that fixed the frequency of the Cameras was dreadful. Red could feel White’s terrible gaze on him, and he shifted his feet anxiously.

“It doesn’t look that hard...” Red muttered, hoping Purple would pick up on the tension in the room.

“Ah,” She spoke quickly when she saw his look, and her voice was strained. “I had to fix them once for practice in Polus. The knobs get really hard to turn when it’s cold, and you have to get it to the _perfect_ frequency. I don’t know how you do it so easily, Blue.”

“Well, I mean, this is what I’ve been trained to fix,” Blue said with a similar timorous laugh. Red heard a buzz start up and Blue turned away from the Communications panel. “We can check the Cameras on our way out- they should be back up now.”

“Got it,” White and Red answered at the same time. They stared unblinkingly at each other, and White raised his eyebrows daringly.

Purple walked between White and Red after a moment of hesitation. Grateful surprise overcame Red. She didn’t know, she _couldn’t_ know why they were so tense, so why was she stepping in?

“So, White, you said you had a Scan or something?” She started.

“Oh, yeah,” He paused. “I do.”

“Great, shall we go to Med Bay?”

White shifted a little. “Okay.” He was struggling to keep a cooler demeanor and slowed down as they got closer to Med Bay.

The door shut before they could enter the room. Red took a step back, towards the wall, as all of the doors closed. The last thing Red saw through the Cafeteria door before it slammed in front of Blue’s and Purple’s faces was terror.

White pushed Red against the wall. “What the _hell_ were you thinking?!”

He struggled against White’s strength, finally managing to get him off with a glare. “Don’t. _Don’t_ touch Blue.” Red growled as White brought out the knife from behind his back.

He turned away with a sigh. “Whatever. You’re not one to follow instructions anyway,” He muttered, stuffing the knife away. “Look presentable.”

When the doors opened, Red smiled weakly. The tension between the two hadn’t dissipated- in fact, it seemed to rise as the moments dragged on before Purple spoke.

“Well?” She asked a second time with a motion to the room. White obliged, leading the way.

They watched as White slowly scanned. He seemed hesitant, but stayed on the platform until the scan was complete. “Was that adequate?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m gonna go to Engines now, see you.” She practically bolted out of the room, leaving Red and Blue confused.

White soon followed, giving Red a backwards glance as he walked away.

Blue turned to Red. “White makes me so uneasy...” He mumbled. “I don’t know why... But he just does...”

“You’re not alone in that one,” Red sighed. “Where do you have to go now?”

“Uhh...” He pulled out his list of tasks. “Navigation...”

As Red opened his mouth to respond, he looked up to the overhead light going out. Instinctively, he grabbed Blue’s hand.

“Is... Is there a power outage?” He asked, to no one in particular.

“M-Maybe...” Blue nervously said in reply.

Red didn’t respond for a while. The darkness cleared from his vision and when he stared around the Med Bay he could easily make out every feature in it. “Let’s just wait... In here...”

* * *

White plunged the knife into Black’s back as the lights flickered out. Pink gasped for breath as life left his eyes in front of her.

Once it registered that he was dead, she screamed. All noise in the ship stopped as she screeched. When her screaming got hoarse, she started coughing and sobbing.

“ **Black... Black’s d-dead.** ” Pink regained enough energy to shout, voice cracking.

“ **WHITE KILLED HIM! WHITE KILLED E-EVERYONE!** ”


	4. Lights Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the lights turn out, another plan of White's unfolds. With a dwindling Crew, tension runs higher than ever before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not very good at keeping to deadlines, as you can tell... But here's Chapter 4 :) Have fun reading!

The moments before the lights turned out were unbearable. Pink backed farther into the depths of Reactor, eyes wide as White approached her.

She bumped up against the Reactor and turned her head towards it, gasping for breath. Pink screamed as White took hold of her helmet and yanked it off of her.

His hand moved to cover her mouth, effectively silencing her screams. “Shhh...” He breathed into her ear, a cocky grin on his face. “You can wait right here with me and your friend Black, okay?”

“Why aren’t the... Why aren’t the lights turning back on?” Blue whispered as he heard the distinctive shut of the doors. His legs started shaking out of anxiety.

“Did you... You heard the door shut, right?” Red replied, not answering his question.

“Y-Yeah...”

“I think the doors everywhere sh-” He was interrupted by Pink’s scream, still audible through the thick barrier of the doors.

Red ran to the door, hand slipping out of Blue’s grasp. He slammed himself against the door, panicking. The screaming was cut short by- by something, and Red slid down against the door.

He heard Blue’s feet shuffling towards him, then a small bang sound as his suit hit one of the medical beds. “Ouch...” He muttered as he tried to figure out how close he was to Red.

“What are you doing?” Red said hurriedly as Blue’s shoe tapped the doorframe.

“Trying- Oh, there you are,” He replied with a nervous smile that only Red could possibly see with his vision. “Is there a w-way to get the doors unl-locked?”

Red hesitated. “Yes,” He slowly stood up, pressing his hand against the door for support. “I think...”

He paused a second time before moving his hand along the wall. It stopped against an unnoticeable button, and Red pressed it. The door opened, and without a thought, Blue took hold of Red’s other hand.

The only sound that came from the ship was the hum of the Reactor and the whistle of the engines. Though Red could recognise the sound the Reactor was making. It was going through a shutdown- who was in that room?

“This way,” Red murmured as he led the way in the opposite direction from the Reactor. Whoever was in that room, he hoped they were rebooting the Reactor before it melted down.

As the humming ceased, Red heard a clanking sound and another, weaker scream. His legs began to shake. _What do I have to worry about? I’m... I’m safe... Right?_ He thought, breathing harder.

“If... If w-we go through the Admin h-hallway... We can g-go to Storage a-and get to Electrical... T-To turn the lights on...” He said, not to Blue, but to reassure himself that he knew where he was going.

“Okay,” Blue mumbled in reply.

They hesitantly began to walk towards the Cafeteria. As they made their way through the large room and into the Admin hallway, they heard heavy breathing. Red looked around in a panic to find where it was coming from. “Who’s there?!” He shouted into the darkness.

“Blue?” Orange’s voice called back.

“Orange, where are you?” Blue said before Red could ask her.

“I-I’m in Storage?” She answered, her voice wavering. The darkness had shifted everyone’s perception of the ship, and Red hesitated. He led the way as he moved along the wall, hand feeling around it.

As he walked into Storage first, he could make out Orange’s suit. “Here!” He said to her. Orange turned towards his voice, but when her eyes didn’t lock on him it was obvious that she wasn’t able to actually see him. She was making assumptions from the direction the sound had come from.

“Let’s go t-to Lights together..?” She asked after a moment of delay.

“Okay, you can lead the way.” Red said, trying to project calmness into his voice. He and Blue continued to walk, following Orange’s footsteps.

There was a crashing noise and Orange laughed nervously. “I bumped into the wall... Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Red muttered in reply.

They filed in, and Red watched from the doorway as Orange flicked the lights back on. His eyes dilated to compensate for the light while Blue and Orange looked between each other.

“So...” Orange started, her mouth staying open with no words coming out. Red turned to see White, dragging an unconscious Pink across the hallway. Her helmet was raggedly fitted on her head, and it clanked against the floor every time White pulled on her arm.

When he looked up to see the three of them. Pausing, he gave them a worried glance and then got back to lugging Pink.

Red’s hands clenched into fists and his body started to shake. Not with fear, but with rage at White. And once that kicked in, a thought at the back of his head came forwards. _It took you this long to figure out that he’s bad?_

Running past White and leaving Orange and Blue, Red made his way to the Cafeteria. He opened up the small glass cage that held a bright, glaring red button and, slamming his fist onto the button, he waited for the red flash that showed his words were being broadcasted all around the ship.

“Come to Cafeteria, everyone,” He said, his voice a growl.

“ **Now.** ”

White was the first to arrive, eyes glaring daggers at Red as he took his place a few feet apart from him. Pink’s unconscious body laid on the seat next to the table, and although grim, Red was relieved to see that she was breathing.

Orange’s face was unreadable as she led Blue into the Cafeteria. And Blue...

Blue looked devastatingly pale. Red felt his gaze on him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look into his eyes. Red didn’t know what to do, what to say.

The silence was broken by footsteps.

Purple ran from Weapons, panting. She looked like she had seen a ghost- maybe she had- and when her eyes locked onto Pink, she shouted. 

“What?! WHAT?!”

When Red spoke, to try and respond to the obvious question that hung in the air, his voice sounded far away and not like him. “She’s... She’s just unconscious...”

“Where’s Black..?” Orange mumbled. Everyone looked between each other and Red tried to hide the pain in his face. He knew that Black was dead. He had heard Pink’s cut-off scream, before she fell unconscious.

“I think... I think we know...” He started.

Blue blankly stared at Red. The others looked expectantly at him, waiting for Red to finish his sentence.

“He’s d-dead... Right..?” Blue choked out with a sob.

Orange’s lip trembled. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Instead, White took the opportunity to talk. “Purple,” He said, quiet as ever. White was still calm, and Red’s anger rose as he stared at his own shaking hands.

“Huh?!”

“You... You said you were going to the Engines... But you came out of Weapons,”

She gritted her teeth, knowing the accusation that would come next. “Yeah, I lied to you because I don’t trust you. White, how can you be so calm? Weren’t you the one dragging Pink? _Why_ is she even in this state, huh?!”

He stayed quiet for a moment, itching at the back of his head. His helmet was still off. “You _can’t_ be serious. That’s the excuse you give?! There’s no reason to lie to _three_ people just because you’re afraid of one.”

“You’re avoiding the question!” Purple screamed at him, reaching across the table and slapping him as hard as she could. Getting up onto the table and avoiding the emergency button that sat in the middle, she came down beside White. “Why. Is. Pink. Unconscious.”

“I found her in Security, slumped in the chair! How would I know?!”

“You’re _fucking_ lying again, aren’t you?” She seethed. “Has everything you ever told me been a lie? Is that what’s happening?”

White took a step back, grinding his teeth. “Maybe if you took a moment to _listen_ to me instead of jumping to conclusions at every word I say, we’d be getting somewhere!” He growled.

“Oh, then go ahead and tell me _exactly_ what you saw.”

“I walk out of Medbay. I can’t see you, so I _assume_ you’ve gone to the Engines. I try to go after you-”

“To kill me, yeah! You were trying to _kill_ me!”

He threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. “I tried to go after you so you could help me in Reactor! And then when I didn’t see you, I looked for you, and suddenly I see Pink passed out in the Security chair!”

Purple narrowed her eyes at him, thinking. Then she mumbled, “I guess I did leave her in Security...” She was hesitating, guessing what she had done. Was this White’s effect? His ability to make anyone forget what was fake or real?

“And why did _you_ leave her in Security, huh?!” White pointed at her accusingly, fire in his eyes. “It’s a-”

“Stop.” Red uttered, his voice demanding their attention. The two looked at him expectantly.

“What is it, Red?” Orange asked, raising her voice a little so she could be heard.

“Orange,” He started. “Where did you come from? Before Blue and I found you.

“Ah, I was in Shields when Lights turned off. I was going to Electrical, but the doors closed on me in Storage...” Red nodded, accepting her alibi.

“Purple... You?”

She glanced up at him. “I walked to Communications after I heard footsteps going there... Then I went to Medbay with you and Red... And White... Then I went to Navigation before Lights turned off.”

“You didn’t bother to go to Electrical?”

“No, I was busy shooting asteroids,” Purple said curtly. “Since the Shields were off it was my priority.”

“Okay,” Red gave another nod. “Blue was with me for most of the time...”

“And where did you two go?” Orange piped up. “Before... The stuff in Storage.”

“I went to Admin to get Blue because the Camera frequency got messed up. Purple and White joined us on the way there, and then we went to Medbay. White and Purple went different ways after that, and when the Lights turned off, the doors to Medbay shut as well. We went through Cafeteria to Storage, and saw you there,” Red exhaled. “Was that good enough?”

“Um...” She didn’t answer the last question, instead turning to Blue. “Everything Red said is true, right?”

“Yes. Don’t accuse Red, he’s been with me the whole time.” Blue said firmly. Although he sounded confident, his face was confused, as if he wasn’t fully there mentally.

“Alright...” Orange replied. “We-” Her voice cracked, and she closed her eyes for a moment. “We need to find Black... His body...”

“Then let’s go.” 

Red’s feet dragged against the floor as he led the way towards the Engines, leaving Purple with Pink. He stumbled and used the railing near the Upper Engine to stabilise himself, looking back to see Orange and Blue’s worried faces. White was expressionless, but when he noticed Red’s glance, he raised his eyebrows. A challenge.

He shook his head to get the look out of his mind, continuing to walk.

When they rounded the corner, they split up. Blue and Orange went into Security, and as they looked up, the doors shut. The last glimpse Blue saw of Red was walking deeper into Reactor.

White put his hands together, pretending to dust them off, and bent down. “Ah, there’s my helmet.” He said, picking it up and fitting it back on his head.

“Where’d you hide it?” Red glared at White as the man took all the time in the universe to look at himself.

“That’s the first thing on your list? I thought we were working together?”

“You’re crazy!” Red raised his voice, and, remembering that Blue and Orange were only held behind a door, he sighed angrily. Glaring at White, he said in a hushed tone, “Where did you hide it?!”

White walked towards the edge of the room, kicking at the vent. It opened up, and he pulled Black’s body out of the vent. It had been decimated, stabbed multiple times, and was almost unrecognisable.

Red stepped back, falling down and choking at the sight of it. The door opened, and as White dragged the body and pushed the vent close, Red croaked.

“ **We f-found him...** ”


End file.
